Friday, March 14, 2014

Caitlin of Real Swanky here with a quick and easy recipe for spicy black bean broccoli and eggplant with tempura tofu. Served on a bed of pan seared udon noodles, this recipe is vegan (and vegetarian) friendly.

A trip to Winnipeg's Oriental Market on 268 King Street in the Exchange quickly supplied me with some staple ingredients.I picked up a jar of black bean paste (douchi). My go-to brand is Asian Family, and a jar is about $2. A good black bean paste will contain very few ingredients, the primary ingredient being fermented black soy beans. There will also be some soy sauce. sugar and vinegar in some brands, but the fermented beans best be first on the ingredients listing. The flavour is sharp and pungent. Buying black bean sauce will yield a totally different taste, due to the massive amounts of sugar, vinegar and sodium added in there.Lee Kum Kee is my favourite brand of chili oil. The chili flakes settle to the bottom, and the soybean and sesame oil creep up top, and it is orange. as. fuck. It has a fairly high smoking point which is stellar for pan frying. This jar set me back another $2 and ought to last me an awful long while.For the Vegetables3 Indian eggplant, cut into eighths 1 small crown broccoli, florets will yield about 3/4 cup1 small can water chestnuts2 shallots, sliced lengthwiseToasted cashews, chopped1 tsp chili oil + 1/2 tsp of the settled chili2 tsp black bean pasteIn a wok, add in your oil and begin pan frying your vegetables on medium-high heat. Once your vegetables are about ready, add in your black bean paste. Throw in your cashews and set aside.For the Tofu2 cups club soda1/2 cup flour2 tbsp cornstarchSpicy salt, optionalExtra firm tofuCanola oil for fryingCut your tofu into slabs (about 1cm thick), then into squares, finally into triangles. Mix up your tempura batter. It ought to have the consistency of a crepe batter or slightly thicker. The thinner the batter, the more it'll spread out in the pan. Oil up that pan, about 1cm of oil will do. Shallow fry your tofu until golden brown.For the Udon NoodlesStir fry the noodles in an oil of your choice. For two packages, I used 1/2 tsp chili oil + 1/2 tsp coconut oil. Once ready, the noodles will be a good and crispy.